THE BEE RECOMMENDS

May 07, 2007

Finally! The updates you have been waiting for:OUR 4th YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL: 2nd GRADE and 3rd GRADE (2005-6)!Do you have kids that are younger than 3rd and 2nd Grade? Go see my previous book lists. They are linked on my Homeschool Series post by year/grade level.

Below are the books we read when my children were in Second and Third Grade during the 2005-6 school year. In case you are just "tuning in", our kiddos were 6 and 8 at the time. Both of the kids could already read very well. Many of the books on this list are well over an average 3rd grade level. Some are encyclopedia type books which we either read parts of or all of - depending on the unit and level of interest. There are some that we skimmed for photographs and subtitles of interest and only read small bits of (most of this type are listed as such in italics).

Our curriculum dictates that we should have an ongoing "family reader" (usually a chapter book) for each unit study, and then I require most school days that the children read two or three library books a day on their own or to each other. As they get older and the books get thicker, we sometimes only read a portion of a chapter book instead. There are 259 books listed here. As the books get thicker, the list gets shorter. I did NOT include any PREVIOUSLY read books in this list (and there were MANY). That means that all of my book lists should NOT contain duplicate books (even though the children often re-check books or re-read some at home in our personal library).

Many of these books can be read at a much older age level as well, so don't let the grade level fool you. The grade in the title of this post just happens to be the grade they were in when WE read them. You can read them any time you like (I'm not a kid, and I enjoyed many of them!).

The books that we enjoyed the MOST are bolded. Many of those were so good that we went out and bought our own copy to add to our library at home. I didn't write down the reasons why we loved them. Some times it was content, others it was illustrations, and sometimes both. The kids love revisiting those books; and if we don't have them at home, they don't hesitate to re-check them at the library. The rest of the books which are NOT bolded are probably great, too (I either didn't remember them very well, the children read them without my help and didn't comment about them, or they just weren't a FAVORITE). Don't think that just because the book is not bolded, it isn't a good book! Our favorites are subjective and you should read these for yourself to find out what your family's favorites are!

Books that had objectionable content (according to our worldview - which is Christian in nature) are conveniently listed in red. These are books that went above and beyond truth and logic to preach evolution or erase the line between fact and theory. We read a lot about evolution and do not mind having some of it in books. I draw the line when there is a preachy tone or if things rub me the wrong way (such as in some DK science books that preach about the cross of Christ being myth or mythology). Another reason it may be red is if it had sexual, spiritually dark or adult themes (such as in one of the movies below). If you aren't a Christian and you don't have a problem with evolution or early exposure to sensuality, you can read them/watch them without issue. For my Christian readers, they are labeled in red as a service to other like-minded moms.If you enjoy using our book lists and ideas here at Sprittibee's Homeschool Blog, please consider dropping some spare change in the tip jar - no donation too small! We could use a few dollars to buy more books with since most of these are LIBRARY books we checked out! Another way you can support my blog is to order the books you want through my Amazon store! You can check out my little Amazon book store up at the top of this blog by clicking the bookstore link, or clicking the text in this sentence! Many of our favorites are there and sorted by category. If you purchase them through our referral, my kids might eventually get a free book for their library. It's a win-win situation! You get great books, we get a few pennies for telling you about them.

Up next in the series will be:
Post #2 - Second and Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Post #3 - Second and Third Grade Field Trips
Post #4 - Second and Third Grade Learning Enrichment
Post #5 - Favorite KONOS Memories from Second and Third Grade
Post #6 - Memories from our KONOS Rock Unit!

Check back in here every day this week for more homeschool records for second and third grades. I'm also planning to bring you a few Mother's Day morsels.

I LOVE it! What a great book list. In the past couple of months, we've begun "read alouds" with my 5y.o. It's going really great. We're reading "Charlotte's Web" right now.

We'll be starting KONOS volume I in the fall. As I look through their book list, I wonder if there are any "must purchase" books in your mind. I'll be assembling materials throughout the summer and would love your advice.

Michelle - The bolded books on all of my lists are ones that are good enough to purchase. The Ambleside book list is also great (historical and living books). Biographies of famous people are always good. Vision Forum has some wonderful series (Henty and Elsie Densmore...etc) that are great. There is a poem book that KONOS usually refers to that is out of print which you can get online if you try (I never have - we look up most of our poems online). You will have trouble finding many of KONOS' listed books... so you'll have to decide as you go what you can afford and what you think will be the most important books to buy. It really is a subjective thing... you might find some of the books on my list to be better fits for your family than I found them for mine... it depends on tastes. I have also heard that there is a good book called "Honey for a Child's Heart" that has a good list of books for the younger set. Whatever you do... keep reading! God will lead the way.

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